Parliamentarians need to step up efforts to hold governments accountable

Posted on October 12, 2017

Parliamentarians need to step up efforts to hold governments accountable

New York, 12 Oct: A new report by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) finds that parliaments are committed to overseeing their governments but in practice face significant challenges in doing so.

Capacity and resource issues are the most cited challenges to parliamentary oversight, while political environment, limited government engagement or even obstruction and competing interests too often limit the ability of parliamentarians to carry out oversight functions effectively— according to the Global Parliamentary Report 2017, to be launched on Sunday, 15th of October, to coincide with IPU’s 137th Assembly in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (14-18 October 2017).

The new report focuses on oversight and parliament’s power to hold government to account and calls for a renewed emphasis on parliamentary oversight by Members of Parliaments, governments and citizens, underlining the importance of stronger partnerships between parliament and civil society. It also finds that there is a significant information gap between the legislative and executive branches that often disadvantages parliaments.

Martin Chungong, Secretary General of IPU said, “The essence of oversight is to ensure accountability for the actions that are taken by those in power, those who govern. This Report offers concrete ways to improve oversight. The recommendations are there, it is now up to all of us to strengthen oversight in each of our contexts.”

Welcoming the new report, Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator said, “Government oversight is a core function of parliament, which is critical to ensure that people receive essential services, and to build accountability as envisioned by Sustainable Development Goal 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions. I am confident that this Report will make a significant contribution to achieving sustainable human development, as envisioned by the 2030 Agenda, and l hope parliaments around the world will give serious consideration to the Report’s findings and recommendations.”

Over 350 Members of Parliament from 120 countries – including parliamentarians from parties in government and opposition, men and women, and all ages – contributed to the findings of the report.

The key findings of the report are:

Parliamentary oversight is a primary safeguard against abuse of power and corruption, and it helps to ensure that government policies and actions deliver on commitments made to the people they serve.

A significant level of oversight activities are taking place in parliaments around the world to hold respective governments accountable. For example in 2015:

103 parliamentary chambers in 85 countries held over 2,200 public hearings -

Over 210,000 parliamentary questions were posed to ministers on portfolio issues

Over 100 special committees of inquiry were set up; and

Parliaments received more than 3,000 reports from government departments, principally on government service delivery.

However, challenges restricting parliaments’ ability to hold government to account include capacity and resource issues, as well as the political environment, limited government engagement and competing interests.

The Report sets out a scenario for strengthening parliamentary oversight as a top priority for parliament including priorities such as; strengthening the mandate and capacity for oversight, co-producing oversight with partners, making good use of parliament’s oversight powers, building public support for oversight and seizing opportunities available to Members of Parliament to shape the oversight environment.